Report: 53-year-old manager who just nearly won a league title was ready to take the Leeds job after Gracia

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Simon Grayson was ready to return to Leeds if he needed to.

According to The Athletic, the 53-year-old manager was ready to head back to Elland Road as a firefighter for the final four games of the season if the Whites needed him.

Of course, Grayson is something of a fan favourite over in West Yorkshire. He oversaw the Whites’ promotion from League One in the early 2010s and led a team of cult heroes such as Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio in the Championship.

Since then, Grayson’s managerial career has been something of a rollercoaster. He had a lengthy stint at Preston North End before a disastrous spell in charge of Sunderland saw his stock plummet.

Nowadays, he’s in charge of Indian Super League outfit, Bengaluru, and he’s doing an incredible job over in Asia.

Indeed, the 53-year-old came within one game of winning the league title with Bengaluru, while fans of the ISL club have taken him in as one of their own, creating their own chant for the Englishman.

However, despite a whirlwind adventure over in India, Grayson was ready to return to Leeds to save his former club.

Unfortunately, the Whites instead opted to go for Sam Allardyce, and, in all honesty, that’s probably the right call.

As much as Grayson is loved at Leeds, he’s never managed a Premier League game, and this role would represent a real jump in at the deep end.

Meanwhile, Allardyce has made a career out of salvaging these situations, and Leeds have given themselves a puncher’s chance of staying up with Big Sam in the dugout.

Grayson is clearly admired by Leeds though, so perhaps his name could be in the mix if Leeds end up being relegated to the Championship this season.